Pages

Monday, October 20, 2014

Errand Days

Not much changes; setting up a new home involves running errands. Only different here is that with the heat and humidity they're done in a sheen of sweat and planning of the next air conditioned stop.

We got our first pass of heavy groceries done with the rental car and then decided we really didn't need to keep it any longer and would do the rest on foot or using local transit. Are we gluttons for punishment or just trying to assimilate as live-aboards?

Our new home, Mowzer, is parked at the dock right behind a brand new Lipari (41') that CYOA is bringing into their fleet. Two very pretty boats! The upside of this is that we have shore power and easy access to the dock.

We seem to have set the standard for getting a working SIM card: at least three visits to the store and one long walk, but the result is that we have a card in the iPad and can at least check email and post the odd blog (although I'll try to do that on free wifi if I can.)

There is a brand new ACE hardware about a 15 minute walk from the boat which is going to prove very useful as we get into boat setup. The chandlery is a bit further away but hopefully (for the wallet) we won't have to make too many visits.

Our first shipment from state-side has arrived so now begins the fun of clearing through excise tax and customs - strange since the shipments are from the U.S. to a U.S. territory. We have to navigate the various agencies tomorrow and hopefully can get the shipment released but if we run into any problems John has offered a contact to his broker. The part I am super jazzed about is my Sailrite order of fabric to make a sunshade for the front of the boat, but I won't be able to make it until my machine gets here sometime next week. Henry is probably more excited about other items such as an inverter and generator. Our pallet from Canada and the remaining items of our U.S. order are on their way through Miami and we expect them on the Sunday boat.

Charlotte Amalie is a noisy, bustling city with way too much traffic and little accommodation for pedestrians so we will either keep busy on the dock or look to get away by the weekend for a little break.

Subscribe To

Mowzer's Crew

Catherine & Henry: We purchased our first boat, a Tanzer 26 in 2007 and sailed her during the summer on the Ottawa River. We then purchased Mowzer in 2009 and started off by getting into the charter business with CYOA. Over the next few years we spent our allotted time aboard learning as much as we could before we set off by ourselves. We finally 'cut the dock lines' as they say and moved aboard in October 2014.

Catherine: Trained in Math & Comp Sci, worked most recently (15 years) in high tech as an HR systems architect, interested in photography, sewing (learning canvas repair), languages, hiking, snorkelling and wants to learn more about diesel engines.

Henry: Trained as an Engineer and worked many years in high tech as a network planner, took a career turn and worked at Home Depot (as a job he could do anywhere in the world), interested in exploration, hiking, cooking, and sports.